This racist Snapchat story of a Sikh man mistaken for terrorist sparks social media outrage

This racist Snapchat story of a Sikh man mistaken for terrorist sparks social media outrage

The white guy noticed an elderly Sikh man on a plane and feared for his life as he mistook the later as a terrorist probably because of his turban and beard. His racist Snapchat story has now gone viral on Twitter with many others fearing they cannot travel safely anymore.

Racism and xenophobia are on the rise and every day across the globe there is someone facing the brunt of it. Recently, a Snapchat story has highlighted prejudice and ‘fear’ against a man only because of his appearance! The story recorded a Sikh man sleeping on a plane while the another user released a tirade of racist slurs towards him. The series of pictures was noticed and shared subsequently on Twitter causing a huge furore online.

The man felt ‘threatened’ by the Sikh man because he thought the latter was a ‘terrorist’, probably because of his turban and beard, and decided to showcase him on the picture-sharing app, Snapchat.

The white guy kept sharing pictures of the Sikh man and said, “Never mind I may not make it to Indy”, referring to Indianapolis. He later also said, “Update I’m still alive” and prayed that the passenger should continue sleeping so that he could be safe.

This series of snaps should give you a sense of what it’s like for anyone who appears to be Muslim to travel by plane. *Thread* pic.twitter.com/9uHoVH4f6E

Though the sleeping passenger clearly appears to belong to Sikh faith, the white supremacist thought he was a Muslim and, hence, began a racist rant towards the passenger. Most of the users on the micro-blogging site expressed their anger against the white guy’s ignorance but also said such slur against anyone because of their colour and race is not acceptable.

Few users also began sharing their own experiences of racist attacks. Many people including those who are Sikhs and Muslims shared that they are used to people glaring and ‘misguided fears’ they have to go through in public on an everyday basis.

When did turbans become the universal symbol of a) Islam or b) Terror? #wtf